Staff at Bradford’s tourist information centre welcomed a surprise visitor today when a large bulky wading bird wandered into their shop in Centenary Square.

Dazed and confused, “Woody” the woodcock stumbled into the information centre and into the welcoming arms of the shop’s staff.

Tourist information assistant Pat Bentley helped put the bird into a box to keep it safe while waiting for an RSPCA officer to arrive.

She said: “We didn’t know what it was so went on the internet and found out it was a woodcock.

“They are quite rare birds that also migrate here from Finland and Russia. It’s a bit dazed so we think it has flown into something like a window or a wall.

“It’s definitely a different customer to what we are used to.”